John Durang: Man of the American Stage By Lynn Matluck Brooks

and passion for theater may have lured him backstage after the show to explore the production’s tricks. Somehow, he met the performer, who recognized the boy’s useful skills: Durang had “mechanical genious, and a turn for music” (12). Durang got his first offer: the opportunity to tour with this show to Boston, for which his expenses would be covered and he would get a benefit and paid journey home, although his name would not be published. Apparently, the boy feared that such publicity would anger his father, for this trip “was the first and the only thing I ever done without the consent and knowledge of my father, in obedience to his will while under his command” (13). But so eager was Durang to travel “in the hope of improveing myself, and gain a better knowledge of the world,” that he agreed to run away.

His life in the theater had begun.